


A Day Off

by TheWeebPound



Category: Re:ゼロから始める異世界生活 | Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World (Anime)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Man gets comfort from his pals, One Shot, emt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-21 21:20:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30028008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWeebPound/pseuds/TheWeebPound
Summary: Natsuki Subaru has a terribly vivid nightmare. When Emilia notices he is shaken, she decides to take a day off with Subaru.
Relationships: Emilia/Natsuki Subaru
Comments: 3
Kudos: 64





	A Day Off

Why? Why Emilia?

The youth only had this single question in his mind. Why? Why did the girl he loves with every inch of his soul sacrifice herself for him?

Emilia, why would you do this for a pathetic loser like me?

The youth’s surroundings are blurry and unimportant to him at this moment. All that mattered was the beautiful, unmoving half elf in his arms. Without her-

Without you, I have nothing to live for. All I want is for you to be alive and well with me at your side. If I can’t even have that-

He’d made his choice. He’d use the only power he has that is able to keep the half elf alive. He stuck his tongue out, took one final look at the half elf, and bit down as hard as he could.

He coughed up his detached tongue and a lot of blood. This was a very painful death but if it’s to save the half elf, he will do it as many times as it takes. That was the youth’s resolve.

Don’t worry Emilia. I’m going to save you.

The world turned black...

...

But…

...

Emilia!?

He had returned safely. The youth was alive and breathing. So why?

Why have I come back here? Emilia? Emilia, wake up. Come on please, wake up. Emilia, wake up dammit.

He was shaking the half elve’s body as hard as he could. No response. Quickly, he grabbed her arm and placed his fingers on her wrist to check her pulse. Nothing.

What? What the hell is this?

…

…

…

WHY THE FUCK HAVE I COME BACK TO THIS POINT!? OH GOD, EMILIAA!!

The half elf was gone. The youth became powerless to save her. His resolve was shattered in a blink of an eye. His first promise in this world was to save her and he couldn’t even see it through.

Emilia... I’m so sorry. I’m so fucking sorry!

He didn’t want to go on without her. He thought that maybe if he returned again, just maybe, she will be there for him. Waiting.

He bit off his tongue yet again, hoping that the half elf will be alive when he sees her again. The world yet again turns black. However, the despair he felt in the next moment was incomparable.

NOO!! EMILIAA!! WHY!?

She was gone for good. The youth’s suffering so far was nothing compared to this very moment. Whilst screaming curses at the world, he banged his head on a nearby rock. Blood started dripping from his head. He banged his head on the rock again. Again and again.

Even after dying of blood loss, he banged his head on the rock again and again.

Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. Again and again. 

Before the world went dark one final time, the youth screamed the half elve’s name at the top of his lungs.

Natsuki Subaru called for Emilia one final time.

* * *

*******

* * *

“EMILIAAAA!!!!!”

Subaru woke up very distressed, calling Emilia’s name. His body jolted up as his perspective shifted from dream to reality. Another person sat up from beside him after hearing him yelling.

“SUBARU!” yells a certain drill-haired loli. She grabs Subaru’s hand with both of her hands. It’s like she has done this before.

“B-Beako?” asks Subaru, gripping the girl’s hands tighter.

“Yes Subaru, it’s me. It’s your Betty. Betty is right here, in fact. It’s okay.” Beatrice comforted Subaru as best as she could. Hearing this, Subaru caught his breath. He breathed in and out. In and out.

“Do you feel any better? Betty can give you a hug, I suppose.” Beatrice asks Subaru. Subaru pulled Beatrice into a hug and took a moment to steady his breathing.

“Yeah. I feel better for now. Thank you Beako. Again.” says Subaru. Subaru consistently had nightmares in the past few months. Thankfully, Subaru has many companions that help comfort him. However, he is alone in his dreams. He spends all that time alone in his head without his friends.

“Yeah. It was only a dream. Just a dream.” Subaru says out loud. Subaru lets Beatrice go from his hug. She got out of the bed and went to the closet.

“It’s good that you feel better, in fact. Making sure you’re okay when you wake up has kind of been Betty’s job these past few months. I’m not complaining though, I suppose.” says Beatrice, grabbing her change of clothes for the day.

“You go on ahead and get changed. I’m just going to calm my nerves a bit before getting up.” Subaru says to Beatrice. With that, Beatrice went into the restroom in Subaru’s room to clean up. Subaru just sat in his bed.

God, tonight’s dream was horrifying. I couldn’t even tell it was only a dream. Thank god Beako was here for me.

Subaru has been having nightmares way more frequently since coming to this world. Sometimes, he can’t even tell if what he sees is real or fake. Subaru’s [Return by Death] only makes that view even worse. All of his past loops feel like nightmares that have been burned into his soul. Any normal person would have gone insane by now. Luckily, Subaru has his friends to pull him out of the darkness that is his mind.

With that thought in mind, Subaru got up from his bed to freshen himself up. He feels that there is no need to worry everyone else with his night terrors. Beatrice already stabled him so he only needs to wash up to appear calm. Grabbing his clothes, he went to the restroom.

He opened the restroom’s door, forgetting he just sent Beatrice in there.

“SUBARU! CAN’T YOU KNOCK FIRST!?” Beatrice yells as she clutches her bathrobe closer to her. She sends him flying out of the restroom, taking care to land him on his bed.

“Oops. My bad Beako. Open the door when you’ve changed so I can clean myself.” says Subaru. While he waited, he opened the curtains. The sun was rising over Lugunica. He remembered one time his family watched the sunrise. Subaru wondered what they’re doing right now.

“Well, might as well do some radio calisthenics while I wait.” says Subaru, getting into position. He did his radio exercise for a few minutes. As he was doing his daily exercise, Petra knocked on his door and entered his room. She was already in her work outfit since the maids have to wake up very early.

“Hello Petra. What brings you here today?” asks Subaru while he tried to fix his hair and rubbed his eyes.

“Same as always, Subaru-sama. Frederica-neesama said breakfast will be ready soon. We made some really good food.” Petra tells Subaru.

“Alright. Beako and I will be there as soon as I’m ready.” says Subaru. Usually it’s Frederica and Petra taking care of meals. Ram’s signature and only dish is steamed yams. To keep from only eating steamed yams everyday, Frederica and Petra do most of the cooking.

“Where is Beatrice-chan anyways?” asked Petra. Subaru told her “Beako is changing in the restroom.” Petra looked behind Subaru and gave a disappointed look.

“Something wrong? If Beako is being a bully to you, I can scold her for you.” says Subaru.

“It’s not like that at all. It’s just that it’s my day off tomorrow and I wanted to know if she wanted to hang out with me. Can you ask her for me?” says Petra.

“That’s all? Yeah sure. Although she might decline since she is still a shut-in. I’ll try to pester her into it though.” Subaru says. Petra gave him a frantic look.

“No, you don’t have to make her do it! It’s fine if she wants to be alone! Just ask her nicely about it, okay?” says Petra frantically.

“Yeah, okay. Ask her nicely, don’t pester her into it. Got it.” Subaru says. Petra turned around to go inform the rest of the Emilia camp that breakfast will be ready soon.

“I noticed your hands are shaking. I want to give you a hug to help it go away but Frederica-neesama told me to avoid touching people when I work. I’m sure Beatrice-chan hugged you already but hug her again if you need to.” With that, Petra left Subaru’s room.

Thanks Petra.

Subaru walked over to the restroom door. The moment he got near, it opened slightly. Through the crack of the door, he heard Beatrice.

“Is she gone, I suppose?” Subaru opened the door further and entered the restroom. Beatrice had finished changing while Subaru was talking to Petra. Subaru turned on the tap and started to freshen up.

“Why are you such a shut in? Petra only wants to make friends with you, you know. As your contractor, I say you should go make friends.” says Subaru as he washes his hair. Beatrice was trying on his track jacket as he washes up.

“Why should I make friends, I suppose? All I really need is to be with you, in fact.” says Beatrice while trying to fit Subaru’s jacket sleeves over her own.

“It’s important to socialize as much as possible. Not just with me but with everyone else. We’re pretty much with them for the long haul so it’s best to get to know them. At least try to talk to everyone some more.” says Subaru. He washed his face after he said this.

“I can try but don’t start thinking I’ll be skipping with them hand-in-hand, I suppose.” Beatrice firmly says. She took a look at her reflection in the mirror as she got Subaru’s jacket on.

“Looks good Beako. Now strike a pose like this and you will pretty much be me.” Subaru says, striking a pose. Before the events surrounding the Sanctuary, Beatrice wouldn’t have done something like striking a pose. However, after forming a contract with Subaru, she became more intimate with him. She even tries to learn all of Subaru’s modern phrases so she can understand him more.

Beako pointed straight to the ceiling and struck Subaru’s signature pose. Subaru just laughed at her and wanted to burn this image into his eyes. How he wished he still had his cell phone at this moment.

“Alright now go wait outside. It’s my turn to change. Then we’ll go down for breakfast.” says Subaru. Beatrice started to leave the room, taking off Subaru’s jacket. She really helped settle him down after his nightmare.

“Oh. One more thing. Thank you Beako.”

With that, Beatrice left the room and Subaru started to change.

After Subaru got changed, him and Beatrice went to the dining room of the mansion. Everyone in the camp was starting to arrive for breakfast. Subaru took his seat next to Emilia and Beatrice sat next to him.

“Good morning, Subaru.” says Emilia. Subaru says good morning back, trying to not let his weakness show.

Once everyone arrives, Subaru says his grace and begins to eat. As a hardcore mayo lover, he has his personal bottle of mayo with him. He remembers the time Rem helped him make the recipe for mayonnaise upon looking at the bottle. Ram made the starting point and Rem added the final ingredients. Subaru didn’t actually do much, despite being a self-proclaimed mayo fanatic.

I really can’t wait to wake you up, Rem.

“Wow this food is yummy. Thank you, Frederica and Petra.” Emilia says to the cooks.

“Yeah, it’s very good. Thanks.” says Subaru.

“I agree wit’ th’ cap’n.” says Garfiel, aggressively digging at his food. 

“Can’t you eat and not make such a mess?” Otto asks Garfiel.

“I’ll clean up when ’m done. Wouldn’t wanna make more work fer Ram anyways.” says Garfiel.

“If you were to leave a mess, Ram would just make Frederica or Petra clean it up. Why should Ram have to clean up the food that you can’t even keep in your mouth?” Ram harshly tells Garfiel.

Subaru continued to eat while listening to the conversation until Emilia asked him a question.

“Hey Subaru. Would you help me with my magic training after? I feel like I’m getting reaaally close to being able to make a sword with my ice.” Emilia asks Subaru. Subaru gave her a smile and gave his answer.

“Of course I will. Any time spent with Emilia-tan is time well spent after all. We can do it after lunch if that works for you.” says Subaru. He still feels shaken from this morning but he thinks he can put on a facade for now.

“That works great actually. In return, I can help you train as well. You might have to tell Clind-san that we're going to train together today though.” Emilia says. She finishes her meal and waits for everyone else to finish.

“Oh. I also have one more thing I want to talk to you about. After breakfast though.” says Emilia.

“Alright. We can talk when everyone leaves the dining room. I’m very curious what Emilia-tan wants to talk about alone however. Maybe she has fallen for me and wants to confess. In that case, I’ll confess again too.” says Subaru.

“It’s nothing like that, geez. It’s more important and it would be better to talk alone about it.” says Emilia, brushing off Subaru’s flirting attempt.

Subaru finished his meal and then waited for everyone else to leave the room.

What does Emilia want to talk about? I wonder.

* * *

*******

* * *

After breakfast, Subaru and Emilia were the remaining people in the dining room. Emilia wants to talk to Subaru about something important. Subaru only hopes that she hasn’t noticed his shakiness.

I don’t want to burden her with my troubles.

If he could, he’d rather take on his own burdens. At the same time, he’d also rather take on everyone else’s burdens too. That was just simply Natsuki Subaru’s greed.

However, he doesn’t have the strength to just outright save everyone. At most, he can distract his enemies and give them a good gut punch with a heavy cost. So he uses the one ability he has that can save his friends and keep them alive. That was his own way of paying them back. A favor that will go unnoticed.

“Subaru.” Emilia says. Subaru gulps down his saliva in anticipation.

“Subaru. Are you okay?”

Dammit. It’s fine. Just play it cool.

“Yeah, I’m fine. What has brought this on all of a sudden?” says Subaru.

“It’s just your hands. During breakfast, I noticed they were shaking and I got worried.” Emilia says. Subaru just tries to shake it off.

“It was kind of cold this morning, you see.” Subaru says. He hopes that’s enough to make Emilia just forget about it. Her next words contradict that thought though.

“Weren’t we eating hot oatmeal with fruits though? Everyone else also didn’t seem cold either.” says Emilia.

Oh. Right. We ate a hot breakfast. It’s fine. I have another card.

“Well, it’s embarrassing to say. I was feeling nervous about being around you this morning.” says Subaru, confident that this will convince Emilia that he is fine.

“Really? You’re never nervous around me anymore though. Why has that changed all of a sudden?” she says.

“I also faintly heard you call my name earlier.” Emilia tells Subaru.

She is pretty worried about him. The reason behind that-

“You had another bad dream, right?”

Emilia was spot on. Subaru felt kind of warm inside that she noticed but he wanted her to not worry about it. So he plays it off as his nightmare being not as bad as it was.

“It was only a simple dream. I’m okay. I’ll work myself over it like always.” Subaru says.

“You look more shaken up than usual though. I can’t even tell that you’re shaking most other days. If your dream was really bad, why don’t we talk about it?” says Emilia gently.

Subaru feels himself starting to shake more. Talking about his dream only brings it back to his mind. It felt so real. It could’ve possibly been real. A possible reality. Subaru’s breathing gets heavier.

“I should be fine, Emilia. Like I said, I just need to work over it.” says Subaru.

“You say that but you’re shaking more now. Your breathing is also heavier. I’m only worried about you, Subaru.” Emilia says. She grabs his hand and pulls him into a hug. She stays silent for a few moments. Until-

“Let’s talk about it, Subaru. If you don’t want to go into detail, just tell me what I can do to help you. I really care for you and want to help you, Subaru. Just like how you help Beatrice, help Garfiel, help Ram, Frederica and Petra-chan, Otto-kun and Rem-san, even Roswaal, let me help you.” she says softly in their embrace.

Subaru couldn’t hold in his tears anymore. Letting them flow down his face, he starts to open up about his dream.

“It was scary. Really bad. I felt so very hopeless. So very pathetic. I couldn’t save you. You were gone. What’s even worse is that it felt so real. So very vivid. It was like I was there in person.” he says while sobbing.

Emilia hugs him tighter upon hearing these words. She feels like there’s not much she can do but can tell that this is enough for Subaru. All he needs to do is just cry it out. After all, he’s already done it before.

“I am right here, Subaru. You are constantly saving me. Thanks to that, I am here with you. I won’t leave you, Subaru. You haven’t left me even when I tried to push you away. Instead, you saved me again. How could I leave you after that?” Emilia whispers in Subaru’s ear.

Subaru continues to cry in their embrace but feels a warm feeling deep inside of his body. He was falling for Emilia all over again.

“I want you to be next to me cheering me on as long as possible. And I know you will always come to my rescue when I’m in trouble. Just like the time we first met. You pushed me out of the way of danger, getting your stomach wounded in the process. One day, I wish to save you like that too.” says Emilia very softly.

Subaru’s crying becomes less intense. He feels kind of worn out from sobbing. His hold on Emilia becomes a bit softer.

“Please Emilia. Don’t leave me behind.” he says.

“I won’t. I promise.” she says.

Emilia’s promises are absolute to her. She will never break a promise she herself has made. Not again.

“Thank you Emilia. I mean it. That really helped me.” says Subaru.

“You're very welcome. Geez Subaru, my shoulder is damp. It’s just like the first time you cried on me.” she says playfully. 

“Oh. Yeah. Sorry about that.” Subaru says. He didn’t want to remember crying all over Emilia that one time. It’s too embarrassing.

“Alright, Subaru. Tell you what. I’ll put off my duties today and not leave your side for the day.” Emilia declares. Subaru is surprised by this. He still didn’t feel like burdening her.

“And I know that you think you’re burdening me. Know that I will not take no for an answer. I’ll simply work veeery hard tomorrow.” she adds.

Emilia read Subaru perfectly. Defeated, Subaru gave in. She will be spending the day with Subaru it seems.

A day spent with Emilia-tan, huh? I might as well just go along with it.

He sighs and says…

“Sure Emilia. Let’s spend today together.”

* * *

*******

* * *

Emilia and Subaru are training together in the mansion’s courtyard to increase their combat potential. Subaru is training with a whip since he can’t see himself getting any better with a sword. Plus, whips have other uses than combat as well.

“El Huma!”

Emilia shoots an icicle into the air. Subaru locks his eyes on it and lifts his arm up. He cracks his whip at the ice but misses it. On the way back, the whip hits his arm.

“OW! That stings, dammit! I just can’t seem to keep it from coming back so hard.” Subaru says. Emilia stops firing icicles and takes a look at Subaru’s arm. His skin is red under his sleeve.

“I’m sure you will figure it out. Your accuracy can use a bit more work too. Here, this will help with your arm.” Emilia says while wrapping a block of ice in a handkerchief. She applies it to Subaru’s skin which makes him flinch. His arm stings at first but slowly gets numb.

“That feels nice. Thanks.” says Subaru.

Emilia has been trying to help everyone out to strengthen their bonds recently. The reasoning behind that is due to her breaking out of her shell in Sanctuary. She is trying to grow even more as a person.

“I can hold it myself, you know.” says Subaru.

“It’s fine. For some reason, it kinda feels nice helping you out like this.” Emilia says.

“What’s this? Has Emilia-tan truly started to bloom feelings for me? No way! I totally feel the same but I feel like we shouldn’t rush into these things.” Subaru says sarcastically.

“It’s probably nothing like that! It is probably just a feeling of great companionship!” Emilia exclaims.

Subaru says “Ok. ok.” and lets her off for now. He tells her to shoot one more icicle into the air and then he will help her with Ice Brand Arts. Emilia gets in position and waits until Subaru is ready.

“Okay. 3… 2… 1… El Huma!”

Subaru cracks his whip at the icicle. The tip creates a sonic boom and hits the ice, shattering it in the air. On the way back, it doesn’t hit Subaru this time.

“YAY!! YOU DID IT!” Emilia yells very excitedly while striking a victory pose.

“Hey! I did do it! What’s even better is I’m blessed with the sight of an excited Emilia-tan! Truly angelic. EMT!” Subaru says.

“The heck are you saying, you dunderhead?” she asks in response.

Subaru wraps his whip and places it on his waist. He leads the way to the mansion’s library in hopes of finding Beatrice and for a nice place to draw weapons. It isn’t the Forbidden Library but Beatrice likes to spend her time there and read anyways.

On the way, they pass the kitchen. Subaru peers inside and has an idea.

“I know what we can do after we train your Ice Brand Arts together! Sick name by the way by yours truly. We should bake something!” he exclaims.

Subaru believes he has exceptional baking skills. He’s thinking that maybe he can teach Emilia how to bake something simple. Maybe someday, she’ll be able to bake delicious desserts on her own.

Emilia’s face lights up at the idea. She hasn’t really baked anything before. She just never had a chance to.

“That sounds reeeally fun. Frederica’s desserts are very yummy. We should make dinner’s dessert today. I’m sure everyone will love it.” she says.

“OK. It’s decided then. We’re part-time bakers starting later. Let’s drag Beako along too.” Subaru says.

They arrive at the library and open the door. Sitting at a chair in the center of the library is Subaru’s contracted spirit. Beatrice looks up from her book at Subaru and Emilia.

“I could tell you were coming from our connection, I suppose. I was trying to decide whether to prank you or not, in fact.” she says, continuing to read.

“Hello Beako! It’s been so long since I’ve last seen you. Our fated reunion has finally arrived!” Subaru jokingly says.

“Didn’t we just have lunch, in fact?” Beatrice says in return.

Subaru and Emilia grab some paper, ink and a book about warfare. They take a seat at a table near Beatrice and begin to draw. The book has illustrations of many different kinds of weapons in it that are perfect for reference.

The idea is that drawing weapons nonstop will help Emilia make weapons out of ice with no thought. So far, she is able to make a spear. Right now, she is working on making a sword.

Emilia draws a sword. The blade is kind of crooked. She draws another sword. It is kind of short. She draws another sword. You get the idea.

In the middle of drawing swords, she takes a peek at Subaru’s paper.

“What the heck is that?” she asks him.

“Oh. I kind of got into the zone and kept adding to it. Here you have chibi Puck. I love his fluffy fur so I made sure it was extra fluffy in this drawing. The cool looking sword he is holding is known as ‘Excalibur’ where I’m from. It was said to be a magical sword. The sword was wielded by a guy named King Arthur, so I guess that makes Puck the king in this drawing. Since Puck is King Arthur in this drawing, I gave him the typical king attire. I thought he needed someone to beat in a duel, so I drew a beaten Julius on the ground. And then because I wanted revenge on him for the incident in the capital, I also drew a crowd laughing at him. I don’t know why these people would be ignoring Puck though. Maybe Julius was beaten so easily that they just had to laugh at him. Hehe look. I even drew myself in the crowd. If you look closely, you’ll notice I gave myself some bigger muscles and a really defined chin. I also gave myself a cool looking sword called the ‘Elucidator’ that some overpowered bastard in a story from my homeland wields. It’s still a work in progress but what do you think so far?” he says.

“Oh. Wow. Uh, it’s nice. I didn’t think you would describe it with that much detail though.” Emilia says.

“Yeeeah, I might’ve gone a bit overboard with the description. However, I still think it’s a great piece of art. What will make it better is if I add Beako and Emilia-tan in it next to me.” Subaru says.

“Don’t add me into your weird drawings, I suppose.” Beatrice says.

“I also wouldn’t like to be laughing at Julius.” Emilia says.

“Fine. I’ll just draw Beako separately and add Emilia-tan next to Puck as the duel referee. I can see it now. Emilia-tan wearing a striped shirt and holding two flags with Puck’s flag raised high.” says Subaru.

Emilia gets back to drawing swords. Subaru continues to add to his chibi King Puck drawing until Emilia asks for his opinion on some of her better drawings. He takes a look at all of them.

“They are all decent for a start but can be refined in a few places. For example, this one is kind of bent and this one is too long. All of your handles look fine though.” Subaru says as he evaluates the drawings.

“Why don’t you try to actually make a sword with these tips in mind?” he says.

“Sure. Since my handles are fine, I just have to focus extra hard on the blade. Alright. Here goes.” Emilia says.

She uses her magic to create ice, shaping it into a sword. Taking extra care on the blade, she finishes shaping the ice. Giving it one final look, she finishes the process of creation. She hands it to Subaru for evaluation.

“The blade’s shape actually looks perfect! The handle is also nice to hold. The weight feels good and the length is also good. The blade is kind of dull though. It’s also kind of cold without gloves.” he says while giving it a few swings.

He hands the sword back to Emilia and she turns it back into mana. With that, today’s training comes to an end. They clean up their station and Subaru walks over to Beatrice.

“Heeeey Beako.” he says.

“What is it, I suppose? It’s also almost time to drain your mana, in fact.” she says.

“Oh yeah. We need to do that too. That’s second compared to this though. Do you want to bake dessert with Emilia-tan and I?” he asks. If she says no, he decides that he will drag her along with them anyways.

“Isn’t that the maid’s job, I suppose?” asks Beatrice.

“Well, normally it is. But today, Emilia-tan and I have decided to do it since we’re spending today together.” says Subaru.

“Doesn’t Emilia have work to do, in fact?” Beatrice asks.

“Worry not, for she has made the admirable declaration to work extra hard tomorrow.” says Subaru.

“Well fine, I suppose. Just let me finish this page and drain your mana first.” says Beatrice.

Nice. Baking with my two favourite people. I can’t wait to make the best cake this world has ever seen.

Beatrice takes Subaru’s hand and drains his mana as she finishes her page.

“Uh, hold on a second. Isn’t that a bit too much? Wait, I’m feeling weaker. Beako? BEAKO!”

Subaru’s mana was almost drained to the point of passing out.

* * *

*******

* * *

Emilia, Beatrice and Subaru are in the mansion’s kitchen getting ingredients together to bake a cake. They thought about what they should bake and settled for a cake for its simplicity. They grabbed flour, eggs, sugar, and butter and set them on the table.

“These seem like the basic ingredients. My mom used to bake cakes for my birthdays. Before she baked them, she’d go out and buy ingredients like this. All we’re missing is... “ says Subaru, thinking about what they’re missing.

“It is milk, in fact. I love sweets so I learned how to bake some confections, I suppose.” says Beatrice. She goes to grab the milk and sets it down next to the other ingredients.

Subaru stares at the ingredients and feels like something else is missing. He decides that he is just being skeptical and puts on an apron. He pumps himself up for the upcoming baking session.

“Let’s do this, bakers! How hard could it be?” Subaru exclaims while raising Emilia and Beatrice’s hands in the air.

First, they think about how they are supposed to mix the ingredients. Over the time Subaru was working as a butler, his cooking preparation skills improved. He knows that simply mixing them together at once won’t make the best possible cake. After conveying this information to Beatrice and Emilia, Emilia makes a suggestion.

“How about we mix the dry ingredients and the eggs together first? Then, we can add the butter and milk after that.” she says.

“That sounds about right, I suppose.” says Beatrice, getting a bowl ready.

Subaru starts to put the ingredients into the bowl but stops. He turns to Beatrice.

“By any chance, would my Beako remember the amounts of ingredients we put in?” Subaru asks Beatrice.

Beatrice takes Subaru’s place and puts in the ingredients into the bowl. Subaru takes the bowl back and starts to mix it. While he is doing that, he tells Emilia to help Beatrice get the right amounts of butter and milk ready.

Emilia and Beatrice get the remaining ingredients ready. Subaru finishes mixing the dry ingredients and lets Emilia put the butter and milk in. She places the stick of butter in the bowl and grabs the cup of milk.

“Pour it in little by little, I think. That sounds like how I remember my mom doing it.” says Subaru.

Emilia slowly pours the milk while Subaru mixes the batter. Slowly but surely, it begins to look like cake batter. Subaru pats himself on the back for doing such a fine job.

“Alright! It looks very appetizing so far. We do need to decide on a flavour though.” he says.

“How about we make it mayo-flavoured! I really like mayonnaise and I really like cake. It’s like a match made in heaven.” says Emilia with a very happy face.

“Wait, what? Can we do that? As a mayo-lover, this seems like something I must try. Alright, let’s do it!” Subaru says while grabbing a bottle of mayonnaise.

“No Subaru, wait! Wait, in fact!” says Beatrice.

“I like mayonnaise too but not everyone in the mansion likes it. We should go for something more sweet, like vanilla.” she adds. Subaru thinks that she has a good point. Ram doesn’t actually enjoy the taste of mayo that much. If Rem was awake, she wouldn’t enjoy it either. This is due to trauma though and not the taste of mayo.

“Okay then, I’ll just make a mayo cake some other time for the mayo lovers. For now, vanilla should be fine then.” Subaru says.

They add the vanilla into the cake and mix it up. Then, they get a pan ready and pour the batter into it. They place the pan into the oven. The oven is powered by fire crystals.

Subaru is fidgeting with a metia that looks like a cooking timer trying to get it to start counting down.

“How the hell do I get this to work? You’d think that in the time I worked as a butler, I’d use this eventually.” he says.

“It’s simple, in fact. Set the time and then pull the dial towards yourself, I suppose. If it’s not working, you replace the lagmite crystal that’s inside it, I suppose.” Beatrice says.

“Oh. That fixed it. So these crystals power the timer? That means they’re kind of like batteries.” says Subaru.

“Bahteree?” says Emilia.

“It’s nothing. Now, since a cake without frosting is boring, we get to make frosting too. Here are the ingredients.” Subaru says, grabbing butter, milk and more vanilla.

“Oh right, the sugar.” he says, going back to the cupboards for sugar.

“Subaru! The sugar we need is much more fine than normal sugar, in fact!” Beatrice says loudly so Subaru can hear her.

“Powdered sugar then? I don’t see any in here. I’ll go check the food storage room. Be right back.” he says. He makes a run for the storage room to check for powdered sugar.

On the way, he meets Petra who is cleaning the hall.

“Oh. Hello Petra. How’s the cleaning going?” he asks.

“Subaru-sama! It’s going well. How about your baking with Beatrice-chan and Emilia-sama?” she asks in return.

“It’s also going great! We decided to make a cake since it’s kind of easy to make. We were trying to decide what flavour to make it and went with mayo flavour.” he says.

Petra shudders at this remark. Subaru doesn’t know it but she doesn’t like mayonnaise. She only goes along with it since Subaru loves mayo. She ought to receive praise for her bravery but Ram thinks she is stupid for eating it if she doesn’t like it. Frederica also thinks she should just come clean with Subaru.

“But then we remembered Ram doesn’t really like mayo so we scratched that idea. We just went with a simple vanilla cake.” he adds to his first statement.

Petra gives a sigh of relief and continues to clean. She was relieved that she didn’t have to try a mayo cake.

“However, I have declared to make a mayo-lover’s cake some other time. Maybe I’ll make it even BIGGER than this cake! I’ll even make mayo FROSTING! No, scratch that. MAYO AS FROSTING!! You’ll eat some, right Petra?” Subaru asks her.

Petra gives a defeated smile with tears in her eyes as she imagines the monstrosity. She hopes he just forgets about it.

“And to make sure I don’t forget, I’ll write it down on a piece of paper!” Subaru adds.

Petra just curses herself for hoping. Everything she hoped wouldn’t happen, Subaru declared he would do. She did have one idea out of this though. “Ohh I sure hope Subaru doesn’t give me a kiss on the cheek.” she thinks to herself.

“Alright Petra. I’ll leave you to your cleaning. Work hard!” he says, going towards the storage room.

“Oh yeah. Which shelf has the powdered sugar?” Subaru asks.

“The bottom shelf at the back has it.” she says, defeated.

After grabbing the powdered sugar, he makes his way back to the kitchen. Emilia greets him when he returns.

“That took a bit longer than I thought it would take. Did something happen?” she asks. Subaru sets down the powdered sugar and Beatrice starts measuring the ingredients.

“I met Petra on the way so I gave her some reassuring words to help her work hard. She always happily eats the mayo I offer her, so I promised her I would make a huge mayo cake with mayo as frosting. I can only imagine what feelings of happiness are in her mind right now.” he tells Emilia.

“Whenever that happens, you need to save me some. I can only imagine the taste of mayo and cake combining into one. Sounds yummy!” she says while drooling. If only they all knew.

Beatrice finished measuring the ingredients so they mixed them together. Adding the milk slowly, it turned into a nice batch of frosting. Then, they waited for the cake to finish baking.

“While we wait, how about we kill time with one of my Subaskills? This particular skill I’m about to show you is called origami.” he says.

“Ore-” “Gahmi?”

“Yes. Origami. Watch as I fold this piece of paper into… a crane! And this one into… a flower! You can have this one Emilia. And I’ll turn this paper into… a hat! Beako can wear it since it looks funny on her.” he says, folding papers until the cake is done.

The timer goes off. They pull the cake out of the oven. It’s beautiful. The best cake the world has ever seen. It seems to be made of a bewildering light. A cake so good that it beats a cake baked by someone with the Blessing of Baking Cakes. Od Lagna might as well give a blessing to this cake since it’s so majestic and pure.

-Is what Subaru would like to say, but...

“What the hell is up with the texture!? It’s so grainy!” Subaru exclaims.

“Subaru, did you remember to put in baking soda, in fact?” Beatrice asks him.

“Dammit, I knew I forgot something. Well, all the good tasting ingredients are inside so it should taste good anyways.” he says.

“The top looks very round. Should we cut it a bit?” Emilia asks Subaru.

“I think we should. Frosting it will be easier with a flat top. Hand me a knife, Beako.” he says.

He starts to cut off the top of the cake. Working hard, he takes extra care to keep the top straight. Carving the top of the cake off bit by bit, he manages to cut a straight line off the top. Or not.

“It’s crooked and rough now.” he bluntly says while staring at the butchered cake.

“I-it’s fine. We can cover it up with frosting.” Emilia says, trying to cheer up Subaru.

“Indeed. It only needs to be frosted and nobody will notice, in fact.” says Beatrice.

“Alright! Hand me the frosting. Who in the world messes up frosting?” he says.

He applies the frosting to the very warm cake. Spreading it evenly as possible, he keeps his mind focused. He feels a bead of sweat on his head but pays no attention to it. For at that moment, all that mattered was frosting the cake without messing it up.

“It’s runny and lost some of it’s texture now.” he says, feeling defeated about his work on the cake.

“I think the warm cake melted it a bit. Well, uh, it probably still tastes veeery yummy.” Emilia says.

“As long as Subaru made it, I’ll eat anything, I suppose.” Beatrice says.

“Thanks, I guess. Well that kind of sucks but I still had fun with my two favourite people. Thanks for baking with me.” he says, looking for the good in this baking session.

Emilia, Beatrice and Subaru put the cake away for dessert. They take one final look at it. It’s lopsided, grainy and the frosting is runny but it was still their creation. Subaru has one last idea to hopefully make the cake look more presentable.

He mixes some of the frosting with food dye and actually waits for it to cool down fully. He puts the dyed frosting into a thin bag and cuts off the bottom of it. When the cake is cool, he brings the bag to the cake.

“What are you doing Subaru?” Emilia asks.

“Adding more flair to the cake. This will make up for it’s downsides for sure.” He says.

He begins to squeeze the bag and move his hands. His drawing skills will come in exceptionally handy at this step. Picturing a chibi Puck in his mind, his hands move freely. He can see it now. The most flawless chibi Puck he’s ever drawn is being applied to the top of the cake.

“This bag makes it come out slow and fast at unpredictable times! This was not my fault this time! It’s this bag’s creator’s fault! If proper sandwich bags existed here, I’d have made this cake into a masterpiece just now!” Subaru yells.

After drawing a deformed cat on top of it, they finally let the cake rest from Subaru’s torture.

* * *

*******

* * *

After some time, the sun sets and dinner is being prepared. Emilia and Subaru are sitting in the dining room while they wait. Otto and Garfiel are sitting with them as well.

“So, how was everyone’s day?” asked Otto.

“Why yer askin’? My day was jus’ like any other day.” says Garfiel in response.

“I’m just making small talk. Dinner is still being prepared so we have some time. Natsuki-san, what about your day?” Otto asks Subaru.

How was Subaru’s day? He spent it with Emilia and Beako so it was clearly good. Looking back on the day, he had a lot of fun. 

“I spent it with Emilia-tan and my Beako. Spending a day with two of my favourite people couldn’t possibly be a bad day.” says Subaru.

“Emilia-sama spent the day with you? Don’t you have a lot of work to do?” Otto asks Emilia.

“Yeah, I do. But I didn’t want to leave Subaru alone today so I promised to work extra hard tomorrow.” she answers in return.

“And if she has too much work, we can just push some of it onto you. You’ll do it right, Otto?” Subaru says.

“Why is her work getting pushed onto me!? I already have my own to do!” Otto yells.

“Hah. Yer need ta’ do it, Otto-nii. Can’t have Emilia-sama gettin’ overworked ‘n collapsin’ on th’spot.” Garfiel says.

“She wouldn’t have to get overworked if she does her work on time! And what about me?! If I get overworked, then I’ll just be the one to collapse!” Otto yells back.

“Heehee. I’ll make sure I get all my work done, Otto-kun. You have no need to worry.” Emilia tells Otto.

“Dinner is served.” says Petra, wheeling in a cart of food with Ram and Frederica.

“All right! Let’s eat!” says Subaru.

“Nobody’s gonna ask about my day?!” Otto exclaims.

Everyone else began to come to the table. The food smelled delicious. Petra and Frederica must’ve worked hard on it. They served everyone and made a place for themselves. Subaru tried some of the food.

“Delicious. Great job, guys. You know what would make this better?” says Subaru.

“I’m assuming the answer is may-” says Otto.

“It’s mayonnaise!” Subaru says as he grabs his personal mayo bottle. He pours some onto his food and tries it. “Amazing!” he says.

“Could I have some, Subaru?” says Emilia.

“Me too, in fact.” says Beatrice.

Subaru pours some mayo on their plates. Subaru is happy that they enjoy mayo too. Not only, them but everyone else except Ram and Rem also like it. At least in his point of view.

“Anyone else want some? Otto? Garfiel?” he says.

“Yeah, I’ll some I guess.” “I’ll try some wit’ my food too, cap’n.” “Don’t be forgetting me, Suuuuubaru-kun.”

He gives them his bottle of mayo and they pour some on their plates. Otto hands Subaru’s bottle back to him.

“What about you, Petra? Want some as well?” he asks Petra.

Petra’s face stiffens. She was being quiet and trying to shrink herself to avoid being asked. Ram and Frederica stare at her, waiting for her response. They were both thinking that Petra should just say no instead of ruining her meal for Subaru’s sake.

“Y-yeah. S-sure thing, Subaru-sama.” she says as she started to reach for the bottle.

Only, Subaru didn’t hand her the bottle. He just poured a big pile of mayonnaise on top of her plate, oblivious to Petra’s despair.

“Disappointing. How do you enjoy eating something that smells that bad?” Ram says.

“Mayonnaise is the best addition to food. It’s even delicious on it’s own. One day, you’re sure to enjoy the wonders of mayonnaise, nee-sama.” Subaru says to Ram.

Petra begins to eat her food, silently gagging and with teary eyes all the way. Everyone else also eats their food. After enjoying their dinners, Emilia stands up from her chair.

“Today’s dessert is being served by me! Subaru, Beatrice and I worked veeeery hard on it so I hope you enjoy it.” she says as she grabs the cake they baked.

“Indeed. Taste it and enjoy, in fact.” says Beatrice.

Everyone took a look at the cake.

“Th’hell‘s that? Looks like yer guys stepped on it or somethin’.” says Garfiel.

“It’s clearly a cake! Just take a look at it.” yells Subaru.

“You say take a look at it but what the heck is on the top? Looks like roadkill I ran over one time. That damn animal broke my wheel in the middle of nowhere.” says Otto.

“It’s a chibi Puck! I know it looks bad but it’s not my fault! It will still taste good so just ignore the visual flaws of it!” says Subaru.

“Looks exactly like something Barusu would make.” says Ram.

“I just said ignore the cake’s looks! Here, have a slice and eat your words.” says Subaru as he hands out slices of cake.

Everyone stares at their underwhelming-looking slices. They then take a bite. Subaru, Emilia and Beatrice waited in anticipation. Ram was the first to speak up.

“It’s very grainy, the frosting is uneven and Barusu helped make it.” says Ram.

“Why does the fact that I helped make it degrade the cake?!” yells Subaru.

“I’m not finished. Interrupt me again and I’ll pummel you. Despite these flaws, it tastes quite delicious. Good job Emilia-sama and Beatrice-sama.” she says.

“I believe you’re missing someone here, nee-sama.” says Subaru.

“You’re probably the reason why the cake looks like mabeast food.” Ram says coldly.

“Hold on. While that is mostly true, Subaru helped a lot. He should get thanks as well.” Emilia tells Ram.

“I can’t even refute the fact that I messed it up.” says Subaru.

Ram just sighs. “At least you didn’t mess up the taste, I guess.” Ram says to Subaru. That’s probably the best they’re going to get out of her.

“Th’cake might look bad but ‘s really good.” “Yeah, good job Natsuki-san. Emilia-sama and Beatrice-san too.” “Subaru-sama did a great job with this!” “It’s indeed spleeendid.” “It’s delicious Emilia-sama, Beatrice-sama and Subaru-sama.”

Subaru, Emilia and Beatrice are showered by praise for their work. With their chests out in pride, Emilia and Beatrice accept the praise.

“Thank you so much everyone. We had a lot of fun baking it.”

“It’s only expected to taste good since I helped make it, I suppose.”

Everyone finishes their cake and then dinner is concluded. Subaru thought to himself-

The cake might’ve been butchered but it did taste frickin’ good.

With that thought, he followed Emilia out of the room. There was only an hour or so before bed, so they went to the garden. Emilia sat down on a bench that was near a flowerbed.

The moonlight really compliments her hair and skin. Subaru blushes at the sight of Emilia in the moonlight. The flowers also add to her beauty. Emilia looks over at him and sees him staring.

“What? Is something wrong?” she asks.

“No. I was just thinking that you really look stunning next to these flowers.” he says.

The flowers were white, some of them silver. Under the moon, they shine really bright and add to the atmosphere. The world really was a beautiful place sometimes. Times like this make Subaru remember that.

“It’s time to talk to the lesser spirits.” Emilia says.

The world around Emilia grows in radiance. Small orbs of light gather around her figure. Subaru can only watch in astonishment. Amazed at the sight of the lights around the half elf, he thinks-

This really is another world, huh?

Emilia talks to the lesser spirits for some time. The longer she stands in that environment, the more Subaru’s heart flutters. After a while, the lights begin to disappear.

“You talk to the spirits every night. Is there any reason for that, Emilia-tan?” he asks.

“Oh. It was originally one of my conditions on my contract with Puck. After our contract broke, I decided to keep talking with them.” she says with a melancholic smile.

Puck was Emilia’s father figure. After Ellior Forest was frozen, he was the only one who she could call family. Subaru didn’t know all the details behind her family but understood that Puck was the last one. Knowing this, he told her-

“I promise that he will come back. We’re going to find a proper crystal and his ass is going to come back home with the milk and cigarettes. I’m sure he can’t wait to reunite with you.”

“That was sweet but I don’t remember him promising to bring back milk. Also, what’s a ‘ciggerette’?” she asked.

Subaru told her “It’s nothing important.” and sat down on the bench with her. He looked back on the day he spent with Emilia. He practiced using his whip with her, baked a mediocre cake, and had a lovely dinner.

“I even made this work of art!” he says as he pulls out the drawing he made in the library.

“I’ll probably never be able to understand this drawing even if I tried.” Emilia says, taking another look at it.

Subaru looked back even further in the day. He woke up very distressed. Beatrice was there for him when he woke up and Petra also calmed his nerves, but Emilia noticed Subaru was shaken and let him cry on her. After that, she spent the day with him to make sure his day is a nice one.

Subaru’s day was indeed a nice day. All thanks to Emilia taking some time to hang with him. He felt much better than the beginning of the day.

“Emilia-tan.” he says.

“Yes, Subaru?” she says.

“Thanks for today. I feel like it’s really helped. I feel better now.” says Subaru.

“You’re welcome, Subaru. If you ever need anything more, please don’t hesitate to come to me. I really don’t mind helping you. Even if it’s to sleep next to you to comfort you.” says Emilia.

“Please don’t do that. Ram will kill me if that happens. I already get death stares for sharing a bed with Beako.” says Subaru.

“Well, then at least I made something you can sleep with instead.” Emilia says as she pulls out a stuffed animal. Well, if you could call it that.

“I saw you making some dolls for Meili and thought that I could try my hand at making you one. I underestimated the difficulty of making one though. It seems like we both made strange looking animals heehee.” she says as she gives the doll to Subaru.

It looks as deformed as the Puck he drew on the cake but he gladly accepts it anyways. Any gift from Emilia is basically a gift from the heavens. He had another worry though. That being-

“I didn’t know you got me a gift. I have nothing to give you right now. So, how about… a date?” says Subaru.

“I wasn’t really looking for anything in return but I’ll accept. I’ll need to schedule it this time though. I’m looking forward to it.” says Emilia.

She is cute. I can’t wait for our next date.

Subaru took a look at the doll Emilia gave him. It looked like a bear but with a long tail. It had a necklace with a lagmite crystal on it. It’s probably a nightlight for him. On the stomach, there was something written there.

“Natsuki?” Subaru asks, confused.

“Yes. I put your first name on there to commemorate us getting closer. Is it too early?” she asks Subaru.

Subaru blinks a couple times.

“BAHAHAHAHAHA!”

“Wait what? What’s so funny? Did I spell Natsuki wrong?” she asks him anxiously.

“AHAHA! No, you spelt it right. It’s just, ehe-”

Emilia waits for him to finish.

“My first name is Subaru. It’s the family name and then the first name where I’m from. You’ve been calling me by my first name this whole time. Ahahaha!” he tells her while dying of laughter.

Hearing this, Emilia gets very flustered. She covers her blushing face with her hands.

“Don’t laugh at me! You and Otto-kun are so close and he calls you Natsuki! I assumed that Natsuki was your first name because of that! I’ve been calling you by your first name this whole time?! Why didn’t you tell meeee?” she exclaims, very embarrassed.

“Ahaa! That’s honestly too funny. Truly, EMTMK.” says Subaru.

Natsuki Subaru’s day off with Emilia has finally come to an end.


End file.
